The present invention relates generally to food processing, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for high capacity cheese shredding.
There are several problems with prior art cheese shredding machines that have been unresolved to date. One particular problem is the type of cut produced. Purchasers of shredded cheese prefer shredded cheese with a square cross-section or a rectangular cross-section with clean, sharp corners and flat surfaces. However, the known prior art high capacity cheese shredders tend to produce shredded cheese with convex surfaces, and at a maximum rate of only 2500 lbs. per hour. A further limitation to these prior art devices is that they can only shred approximately a single 1/2 lb. block of cheese at a time.
Much of the prior art patents in this area are directed toward low capacity food processors typically constructed for home use. Such processors are small, light duty, typically only have a single cutting blade, and are not constructed to withstand high capacity production, nor meet USDA sanitary approval. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,887 shows a rotary food processing apparatus in which a cutting structure is spot welded to a rotating disk. Such retention methods allow for the accumulation of food materials and do not allow removal for cleaning. Further, such a device would not withstand heavy use because of the orientation and construction of the cutting structure.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus for high capacity rotary cheese shredding that is capable of producing square cuts, shred multiple cheese blocks simultaneously, and meet USDA sanitary standards.